Saddle tree



Jan. 14, 1936. s. E. WORCESTER SADDLE TREE Filed June 4, 1935 /Nl ENTOR STANLEV E. WORCESTER A T TORNEV Patented Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in saddle trees and has for its objects, first, to provide a means for mounting stirrup leathers on a saddle tree so that there is more Swing than is allowed by present Construction, second, to provide a mounting of this character which is easily adjustable to various shapes of saddle trees, third, to pro-vide a device and means for strengthening the saddle Construction without forming a rigid structure which would prevent the natural flexing of the tree, and fourth, to provide a simplified adjustable stirrup leather hangar bar which will not cause undue strain on the saddle tree parts or disrupt its mountings thereon whether on account of expansion and contraction due to changing atmospheric conditions or the natural flexing of the relative parts of the saddle tree. Other objects will appear hereinafter. v i

I attain these objects by means of the construction and devices illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a s'addle tree equipped with my improved stirrup hangar C bars; Figure 2,

a plan View of same; Figure 3, an enlarged plan view of the right hand hangar bar; Figure 4, a section of the bar taken on line 4-4, Figure 3`; and Figure 5, a section taken on line 5-5, Figure 3.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the several views.

It has been recognized for some time, in sad dle construction, that it is highly desirable to provide means for hanging stirrup leathers on the tree so they will have the largest possible longitudinal freedom of movement, or swing. This adds greatly to the comfort of the rider, since it enables the stirrups to be swung freely forward and thus permits the rider to better brace himself against forward pitching motion, particularly when descending steep inclines or in making sudden stops.

It has been the usual former practice to loop the stirrup leathers over the rails 2 and 4 of saddle tree 3. This placed the leathers in the same plane as the tree rails and their forward Swing was necessarily limited by the cinch rigging attached to these rails. It is therefore desirable to provide a support for the leathers along the opening between the rails but slightly above them so that both stirrup leathers can be swung to extend on top of the rails, thence outward and downward. Most of the saddle trees now in common use, and practically all on which Western type saddles are built are made of a multi-piece wood frame bound together and covered with a tightly laced rawhide sheathing. In general, all these trees are provided with rails 2 and 4 joined by the arched pommel 5 i at the front end and by the cantle 6 at the 5 rear. These provide an arched interconnection for the rails which, due to the nature of the materials, has a natural and desirable flexure when in use. Furthermore, I have found that metal parts attached to parts of the saddle be- 10 tween which there is fiexure, or which are apt to relatively expand or contract due to heat or cold, or. moisture or drynes s, tend to work loose at the points of attachment, and in a compartively short time tear the mountings 15 away from the tree. Therefore, any rigid metal structures extending transverse the tree rails, or from one to the other, are insecure and inefficient and devices mounted on them are very apt to break loose and come off and at the same 20 time split and injure the rail structure.

To overcome this difliculty and at the same time provide a cross pull on the tree rails which will overcome and counteract the undesirable parting strain on the pommel and cantle, I have developed the c bars marked 'land 8 in the drawing. These are preferably made of malleable metal, such as bronze or soft steel, and have the general plan shape of an open c.

The cross section of the bars is generally, and 30 for the most part, as shown in Figure 5, fiat and has smoothly rounded edges; it may be made about one inch wide and a quarter of an inch thick. The bars are made right and left in pairs; the one being the converse counterpart 35 of the other.

More particularly, each bar consists of two transverse supporting arms joi ed by a laterally extend'ng hanger bar. The forward portion of each bar constitutes an arm 9 adapted to extend 40 transversely across the rail of the tree, such as 4 in Figures 1 and 2, to the base of the pommel 5, where it is attached by screws extending into the tree thru holes lil at this point. From this forward portion the bars extend rearwardly 45 in a wide arc to form, or be joined to, the slightly rounded arcuate and longitudinally extending hangar bar !2. The section of this portion is ovoidal, as shown in Figure 4, to provide a comparatively large smoothly rounded 50 inner edge ll, which constitutes a smooth noncutting support for the loop of the stirrup leathers. At the rear of the hanger bar portion the bar is bent ina sharper curve to form the rear transverse arm !3 which extends across the rail and is fastened by screws driven thru holes 14 into the rail under each respective arm.

Each hanger bar is thus bowed in the direction of the nang of the stirrup leather it is intended to support and its supporting arms are attached to the tree on the side opposite to that on which its respective stirrup leather is attached. The supporting arms are curved and twisted to conform to the contour of the particular portions of the tree to which they are attached. The corresponding supporting arms of each C bar cross each other at about the middle of the opening between the rails of the tree' The under arm is in each instance bent downward slightly to allow the upper arm to conform to the general contour of the tree. It is found to be most satisfactory to cross the front arm of one bar over and the rear bar under the respective arms of the opposite bar.

On a tree equipped with C bars, as above described, the right stirrup leather is attached to the leit cross bar, and normally hangs in the position indicated by the dotted Outline i, Figure 2. Since this bar forms a support entirely above rail 4 both sides of the stirrup leather loop extend over the rail, free of the saddle rigging, and are thus free to Swing and/or slide forward to the position indicated by dotted outline !6. This is a much greater swing than is possible with the old structure, and is obviously advantageous, as above stated. Furthermore, the strain of the stirrup leathers does not tend to disrupt the tree and at the same time the fiexing quality of the tree is maintained. This, of course, also holds true for the left hand stirrup leather which is attached to the C bar on the right of the tree.

I claim:-

1. A saddle tree comprising, in combination, a tree having parallel longitudinal rails, and a pair of stirrup leather supporting bars having the general contour of an open C the arms of each being attached to the side portions of the tree so that the arcuate interconnecting portion extends from the said side of attachment across the opening between the rails toward and above the opposite rail to form a hanger bar to support a stirrup leather depending from the side opposite that of attachment.

2. A stirrup leather support for saddle trees comprsing a curved bar having the general aspect of an open C, the two extending end portions orming supporting arms adapted to be bent to conform to the contour of the saddle tree and be. attached to side portions thereof so that the curved interconnecting portion will extend across the opening between the rails of the tree to which the bar may be attached, and a curved interconnecting portion between said arms forming a hanger bar adapted to receive a stirrup leather.

3. A saddle tree comprising a rame having substantially parallel rails interconnected by a pommei at the front and a cantle at the rear, in combination with a pair of C bars having an arcuate longitudinal portion adapted to support stirrup leathers above the tree rails and attached respectively to said tree on the side opposite that from which the supported stirrup leather of each depends.

4. A saddle tree comprising, in combination, a e

tree having parallel rails connected by a pommel and cantle, a pair of inter-crossing C bars having forward and rear supporting arms connected by an arcuate hanger bar, the supporting arms on one C bar being attached to the right hand portions of the tree with its hangar bar extending toward the left tree rail, and the supporting arms of the other C bar being attached to left portions of the tree with its hanger bar extending toward the right hand tree rail.

STANLEY E. WORCESTER. 

